


Happy Holidays

by Chains_and_Pasta



Category: Creepypasta - Fandom
Genre: ? - Freeform, Angst with a Happy Ending, Christmas Fluff, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Platonic Romance, angst and romance doesn't come up until way later btw, but good moments dedicated to other characters, same with the plot lol
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-12
Updated: 2018-12-26
Packaged: 2019-02-13 18:10:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,928
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12989646
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chains_and_Pasta/pseuds/Chains_and_Pasta
Summary: How do the Creepypastas celebrate the holidays? Sadly, apparently.





	1. Morning, Mr. Grumpy Pants

The December holidays aren't usually celebrated by murderers. Monsters and serial killers don't have family or friends to buy presents for, let alone enough money to even buy themselves something. The Slender Mansion wasn't any different. The multiple proxies that lived under the blank faced monster usually resented the snowy season, since it led to them being sighted more than usual, because of both the lack of foliage in trees and the abundance of colored lights on houses.  


  
However, no one hated December 25th more than a certian monochrome clown.  


  
Jeff woke up one morning to the sound of Toby slamming open his door, shouting, "Merry Christmas, bitch!"  
It was December 1st.  


  
He hauled himself out of bed, sifted through piles of clothes and trash until he found a shirt that looked decently clean. He shuffled downstairs and waited for Hoodie to finish making his coffee so he could make his own brew.  


  
Masky walked in, looking just as tired as Jeff, and cracked a smile. "Nice to know we have our very own calender this month," He joked, reffering back to Toby's morning greeting. Jeff chuckled. "Yeah, but if he does that tomorrow I'm cutting his tongue out."  


  
"Not if I do it first," Hoodie responded grumpily. He wasn't a morning person.  


  
Toby bounced into the kitchen, going to the cabinets to grab a box of cereal. "Morning," He said cheekily, knowing full well he was the reason for their tired expressions this morning.  
Jeff grunted back, before asking, "How many people did'ya wake up?"  


  
"Everyone in the house today, I think. Ben nearly killed me for it." Right on cue, Ben walked into the kitchen, his hands fists at his sides. His hair was smoking slightly. Toby's grin widened.  


  
"Hey Ben, you should t-tell them what you did this morning."  


  
"Fuck you."  


  
Masky smiled, raising his eyebrows. "Well now you've gone and made me curious. What happened?" Ben shot Masky a look of pure fury. "Nothing. Toby just woke me up like everyone else-"  


  
"He got so mad he electrocuted himself." Toby interrupted happily. It was clear he was fighting hard to not laugh. Looking over at Ben's pissed off expression made him lose it. He burst out laughing, closing his eyes as he doubled over. Ben let out a yell of frustration, making Toby laugh even harder. Ben looked over to the others in dismay.  


  
"I can't even electrocute him for that! He can't feel pain!" He whined, which made Masky start laughing as well.  


  
"How the hell do you fuck up that bad, Ben?" Masky said between chuckles, "You try to electrocute a guy who can't feel pain and end up just electrocuting yourself? How does that even happen?"  


  
Ben glared at them before walking out. Guess he wasn't hungry. Jeff finished making himself coffee and left. What a way to start the morning, he thought, smiling. He headed upstairs back to his bedroom, before he changed his mind, knocking on a different door.  


  
"Yo LJ, you in there?" He asked. After a moment, he knocked again, harder. "Jack? Did Toby wake you today? I got a funny story, you'll never guess what happened to Ben." Again, no response. Jeff frowned. He decided to try one more time, just in case. "Jack? Hell-o? Any murdering psycho clown in there?" The door swung open, making Jeff jump back in surprise, as Jack stuck his face out, glaring down at the smiling killer.  


  
"What?" He asked sharply. Jeff hesitated. He didn't look pleased about Jeff's incessant knocking and yelling.  


  
"Are you going to tell me or what, Jeffery?" The clown asked again, impatiently.  


  
"Oh, uh, Ben accidentally electrocuted himself." Jeff said blankly. Jack raised an eyebrow. Jeff continued. "Yeah, he was trying to get Toby, but he hurt himself I guess." No reaction from the clown. "So uh, yep. Just thought you'd like to know." Jeff finished awkwardly. He felt like a child being scrutinized by an overly strict teacher.  


  
"Oookayy. Anything else you want to tell me? Like maybe you had tea this morning instead of coffee, or that EJ eats kidneys, or maybe something actually useful for me to know?" LJ said sarcastically.  


  
Jeff's eyes narrowed. "Yeah, in fact I do. I wanted to tell you to stop acting like such a bitch."  


  
Jack gave Jeff a harsh look, before stepping back and closing the door.  
"Fucking clown," Jeff muttered to himself, walking back to his room.


	2. Decorating for Christmas Sucks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> LJ is a total bitch, Jeff is uncomfortable and Sally cries. Also hi Ben.

Jeff had just come back from a mission, and was back in the kitchen, cleaning his knife. He had taken his blood-stained hoodie off as well, and it sat in the sink, cold water running over it. It was probably the most Jeff had ever washed it. He slowly ran his fingers over the metal, careful so it wouldn't cut him. He watched the blood mix with the water as it slowly circled into the drain.  
Beautiful.  
Sally and Ben sat at the table, and had been talking about their plans for decorating the household. Sally wanted to go all out and buy a Christmas tree, but Ben disagreed.  
"No one's gonna want to decorate it!" He argued.  
"I will! And so will Toby," Sally insisted. Ben shook his head. "Ok, fine, but who's gonna go and buy the tree? We don't have any money!"  
"Toby has a hatchet, we can go outside and cut one down, we live in a forest!"  
"Toby can't be trusted to do anything and you know it!" Ben shot back, jabbing his finger at her, and Sally had to agree with that one. "What if Tim-"  
"I don't get what's so important about some damn tree, " Jeff interjected, glancing over at them. "Why don't you just decorate the house instead?"  
Ben threw his hands into the air, "That's what I was saying!" He turned back to Sally, "See? I'm right!" Sally huffed, putting her head on her hand in defeat. "Fine," She finally agreed. "But I get to help pick out everything."  
Jeff shook his head. He didn't really care about Christmas, it always seemed like too much work for him. But he could put up with a couple decorations around the house, god knows it needed some "holiday cheer", Aka someone to dust the hell outta the place. As long as Jeff didn't have to cough up some extra money for some bullshit holiday, he was fine. Just 'cause it was cold as fuck out didn't mean he was gonna go out of his way to buy anyone presents or whatever.  
Somewhere in the house, a door slammed, causing everyone to jump. A moment later, Laughing Jack entered the kitchen. He was hunched over, and his eyes were dark as they surveyed the room, landing on Sally and Ben. They went quiet, not making eye contact. He huffed, and went to the cabinets. Jeff finished cleaning his knife, and put it to the side as he began to wring it out. It's not like he could hang it outside to dry when it was snowing.  
After a moment, Sally and Ben continued talking. Ben took out a paper and pencil, asking, "So what kind of decorations do you want?"   
Sally thought for a moment. "Garland, we can hang that up on the ceiling. And, oh! What about those red flowers, Poinsettias?" She rambled happily. Ben hurriedly wrote them down, nodding.  
Sally tapped her fingers on the table. "What if we made cookies? Do you think Santa would come here?" The room slowed to a stop. Jeff paused what he was doing, cocking his head every so slightly to listen. Ben stopped writing, trying to think of a response that wouldn't hurt her.  
"I-uh, Sally..."He paused, biting his lip. "I don't think, no, I mean, maybe, but-"  
"No." Jack interrupted. Jeff turned his head to look at Jack. He had to cover his mouth to keep from smiling. No fucking way. Was Laughing Jack seriously gonna tell Sally that Santa wasn't real? For a brief second, he thought about stopping it, but... he had to fuckin' see this. Besides, Sally would've found out Christmas day anyway.  
"No, "Jack said again, a smile starting to form on his face, showing off his razor sharp teeth as he laid the cup he was holding on the counter. "Santa can't come here."   
Sally narrowed her eyes. She knew full well not to trust Jack, but her fear and curiosity got the better of her. "Why?" She asked softly.  
Ben stood up. "Jack, don't you dare!" He said furiously, his red pupils glowing. Jack barely even glanced at him as he came closer, bending down to look Sally in the eye.  
"Because, Sally dear," He said in a quiet, low voice, "You, are a bad person."  
Sally's eyes widened. "No I'm not. I haven't done anything wrong," she whispered. Jack's grin softened, trying to look more sympathetic. Instead, he looked like a cat persuading a mouse into it's claws. "Oh, Sally, Sally, Sally," He said to her in a pitying tone. " How can one be good when they are friends with murderers?"  
"But I don't murder," She protested, leaning forward slightly. She had fallen into his trap, hanging onto every word.  
"Maybe not, maybe not..." he trailed off, looking to the side, where Ben stood, speechless. Sally followed his gaze. "You only live with us, call us your friends, your family. You look away when we clean our blood spattered clothes, talk about how much fun it all is. No, Sally, you don't agree with what we do, when was the last time you tried to stop us?" It was all said innocently, as if he didn't know the meaning behind the words he spoke.  
Ben's eyes narrowed. "Get out." He growled. Jack's eyes lit up like a Christmas tree, and he stood back up to his full height, towering above the both of them. "I'll leave you two to your planning then," he said, staring at Ben with amusement, "I'm sure Christmas will be a blast this year." And with that, he walked out of the kitchen, humming.  
Silence. Neither Ben or Jeff had expected that. Sally's lip quivered, looking down. "He's right." She whispered. Ben tried to comfort her, but she shook her head. "No, I'm not- I don't blame you guys. You have your own reasons for what you do, and If I didn't agree with it I shouldn't have stayed, and lived with you guys. It makes sense." She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. She looked like she wanted to say something, but instead she turned and left the room.  
Ben glared at Jeff. "Why didn't you stop him?" He accused. Jeff shrugged. "What difference would I have made? The truth hurts." He picked up his hoodie, which was still soaking. Ben snorted in disgust. "She's a kid. Jack wasn't being truthful, he was being a fucking jerk. You're the closest to that prick, you should have done something." He cracked his knuckles, sparks of electricity flying through his fingers.   
Jeff picked up his knife again, putting it in his pocket. "So? You're closest to Sally. Maybe you should have stopped him." Then he left like the others, wondering absentmindedly if there was a dryer in the mansion. Ben watched him go, his anger growing. No one here seemed to remember what it was like to be a kid anymore, he thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi y'all! Thanks for reading my shit story, yes this will actually develop a plot soon I swear.


	3. Mysterious coworkers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang makes cookies, Jeff learns a little more about LJack and the others.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> eyyy hi everyone. Decided to continue this series since I felt bad about only uploading a couple chapters. Happy late Christmas, I guess, lol

The baseball flew straight up, into the air, before cascading back down into Jeff's scarred hands with a dull thump. Up, and down. Up, and down. Jeff had been doing this for about 20 minutes now, and at this point the boredom was killing him.  
        There wasn't much to do in this mansion, Jeff had realized. He had come to this mansion- well, forced was the better word- under the order of the Slenderman, who had captured Jeff, multiple times, in fact, until Jeff had finally given up and became a proxy. He was the newest member, and had only been here for a few months. Masky, Hoodie, and Toby were the oldest members, and were usually trusted the most by the Slenderman. Jeff found all three of them to be vaguely mysterious. He didn't even know Masky and Hoodie's real names, nor what Hoodie's face looked like underneath the mask, aside from when he pulled it up past his mouth so he could drink or eat. And Toby, Hell, even Toby didn't remember too much about his past, aside from a few basic things.  
        To be honest, everyone in this house had a past, and it was an unspoken rule to never talk or ask about each others history. One could guess, however, by the words proxies spoke in their sleep. Toby had a fear of cars and often talked about some girl in his sleep, Masky often woke people up at night, his screams were so loud. Hoodie remained as mysterious as ever, until Jeff caught him burning tapes when he took a late-night walk into the woods. Every person in the house had a story, from Ben's look of terror whenever they went past a body of water, to Eyeless Jack's drunk rambling as he looked into the woods, muttering about a Chernobog.  
        Jeff sighed, and kept tossing the baseball into the air. He wondered if it was worth murdering someone, or if he should just stay in. It was fun and all, but when it was the only fun thing to do, you have to do it sparingly. He threw the ball up, and then the door swung open, startling Jeff, causing the ball to hit his face.  
        He grunted, sitting up and glaring at- who else- Toby.  
        "What?" He growled, annoyed, rubbing his head. Toby snorted, before asking, "Ben and I are making cookies. Wanna join?" Jeff pretended to think about it, "Eh, I guess it might be fun." He said finally, as if he had anything better to do today.  
        Toby led back to the kitchen, where it seemed any and all social interaction happened, where Ben was sitting on the counter, listing off ingredients to an increasingly frustrated Sally.  
        "Ok so if we want to make the mint ones we need peppermint extract-No! Wait, this one says it tastes better if you use Andes chocolates- wait, never mind, one person in the comment section said OP is a loser-"  
        "Augh! Ben, just pick a recipe and tell me what to grab!" Sally wailed in distress, visibly upset. Jeff heard Toby's muffled laughter from behind his mouth guard.  
        Eventually order was restored, and Ben finally settled on a recipe, with Jeff's helpful advice ("Ben, pick one or I will bake you into these cookies.") and within 15 minutes their first batch were ready to go into the oven. Jeff put them in, closed the oven door up, turned to Toby.  
        "What do we do now?" He asked. Toby pointed toward the timer. "It takes 10 minutes to bake, so I guess we just wait." Jeff nodded, leaning against the counter. Ben jumped back onto the island counter with Sally, and they all started making conversation.  
        "I'm surprised that old grease bag hasn't come downstairs yet," Ben muttered, glancing towards the door. Jeff raised his eyebrow as Sally elbowed Ben. "That's not nice!" She said. Ben's eyes were angry again. "Well Laughing Jack isn't a nice person either!" He protested. Ah, so that's who the "grease bag" was. Toby scratched his chin. "Actually," He said, "I think he left for the month." Ben and Sally sighed in relief.  
        "Gone?" Jeff asked. Ben nodded. "Yeah, every December he leaves for a week or so. He doesn't usually leave this early though..." He turned to Toby, expecting an explanation. Toby shrugged. "I don't know what you want me to tell you. Masky says that we weren't gonna see him for a week, but yeah, you're right. He usually doesn't leave so early." He recalled.  
        Jeff frowned. "Why does he leave though?"  
        "No clue," Ben said. "I'm glad he does though, he's always more of a total dick than usual- Ow!" He yelped as Sally hit him again. She turned to Jeff. "We shouldn't be talking about someone like that when they can't defend themselves," She stated, folding her arms. Jeff sighed. Sally could be stubborn, and he didn't feel like talking about LJ anyway.  
        "What's Christmas usually like here then?" He asked. Toby's eyes widened with excitement.  
        "Actually, I'm Jewish, so I spend Christmas singing Hanukkah songs!" he said, doing jazz hands. Ben rested his head in his palms, "He also lights every candle in the house. It's annoying, and makes everything smell like "Wild Fig" or "Starry Night". What the hell are stars supposed to smell like?" He exclaimed.  
        "Not my fault Brian likes candles," Toby shot back. Jeff scrunched up his nose. "Why the fuck did you wake me up in the morning screaming about Christmas then? " He said, thinking back to the past week.  
        Toby smiled devilishly. "Why not?" He said. Jeff had never felt like murdering someone more than he had now.  
        "Anyway, we don't usually celebrate Christmas here," Ben interrupted. "I mean, this year we're decorating, but that's it. Well, I guess we're doing cookies too, but me, Toby, and Sally do them every year."  
        Jeff nodded, forcing thoughts about dismembering Toby out of his mind. "The others don't celebrate it then?"  
        Toby tilted his head from side to side, "eh, it depends. Eyeless Jack doesn't do much for it, I know one year I asked if he got me anything for Christmas, and he gave me a liver with a bow taped on it. Masky and Hoodie usually visit a nearby town and look at the decorations on houses and in stores, us three just watch a Christmas movie and that's about it."  
        "If you wanted a better present you could have asked," said a voice. Everyone jumped and turned to see Eyeless Jack sitting at the table. How long had he been there?  
        He stood up, "I guess since you hate my gifts so much I won't get you anything this year."  
        Toby scoffed," Everyone knows you hate the liver, you just didn't want to eat it." Eyeless put a hand over his heart dramatically. "Well, you never told me you didn't like liver," He responded. Toby smiled. "Who said I hated your gifts anyway?"  
        They continued talking like this back and forth, faking grief over badly-received presents. Jeff ignored them. He didn't know Eyeless too well, besides the fact that he was a smartass. The timer on the oven went off, and Jeff went to grab the cookies before Sally stopped him.  
        "Put on oven mitts, what are you doing?" She shrieked. Jeff jumped, looking at her like she was crazy.  
        "Um. Ok." He looked around the kitchen for a minute, before asking, "What do they look like again? "  
        She sighed, reaching for a drawer, and pulling them out. She put them on and pulled out the cookies. "You guys are like children sometimes," she muttered. Jeff decided not to comment.


	4. Grey isn't a Christmas color, you hipster

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jeff is sent on a mission with the proxies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Breaking the usual format of these chapters- new location! New character! Some fighting! All of them are still jerks though.

 "This is boring," Jeff grumbled, the snow crunching beneath his feet, "And cold as fuck out." Masky, who walked beside him, shrugged. "Bosses orders, Jeff. You can't expect every mission to just be a killing spree."

        "Well it's all I'm good for," Jeff muttered, rubbing his gloved hands together to get warm. He had been sent on a mission with Masky and Hoodie, teleported to some unknown location. Well, Hoodie seemed to know where he was walking, but Jeff was clueless. Maybe he should have been paying attention when Slender was giving out instructions, but he was so happy to be out of the damn mansion for once he didn't bother.

        All he knew was that some guy had been getting to close to Slender's territory, and they were there to remind him who's boss. The thought of spilling blood made Jeff excited, and even now his freezing fingers itched for his knife, which was tucked safely in its sheath. He looked at Hoodie, who was in front, and asked, "We almost there yet?" Hoodie slowly looked back, the stitched-on frown of his mask showing no emotion. He slowly nodded, before facing front again.

        Jeff almost laughed, the thought of murder making him smile, the Cheshire grin opening to reveal his teeth. He pulled out his knife, twirling it a little. It was the afternoon, so the sun still bounced off of it, reflecting light. He wondered how much of a challenge this mission would be.

        Eventually they came across an abandoned building. It was an old, with two stories, a theater sign with no letters hung on it. Seeing Jeff's confused expression, Masky explained, "There's a small town about two miles from here. Back in the 90's, people used to drive here to see a play or whatever, but it didn't make much money I guess, seeing how they let the forest kinda take over it."

        Jeff nodded, tightening his grip on the knife. Whatever. He didn't need the whole backstory on this place, he just wanted to kill something. He began to walk inside, before a firm hand grabbed his arm, holding him back. He turned to see Hoodie, the black mask staring blankly a him.

        "What?" Jeff asked the silent figure. Hoodie let go, staring up at the building.

         "Stay behind me. I want to talk to him first."He muttered.

        "Wha- talk to him? The fuck is the point in that, just stab the bitch and get it over with," Jeff said, exasperated, as Hoodie ignored him and walked inside, taking the lead again. Masky followed, giving a quick pat on the shoulder to Jeff. "Can't always resolve your issues by stabbing people, Jeff. Besides, this guy's a little different." He said lightheartedly. Jeff huffed, following them, muttering, "You can't resolve issues by stabbing people... watch me try, bitch."

        "No, really, Jeff," Masky said, lowering his voice to a whisper as they entered. It was a dusty auditorium, with little to no lighting, any and all windows covered in thick curtains. Masky continued whispering to Jeff as they walked down the aisle.

        "This guy's a ghost-"

        "A ghost! What the hell, Mask, you never said this was gonna be something I couldn't stab-"

        "Shh!" Hoodie turned around to hush them.

        "Sorry, Hoodie- Jeff, it'll be fine. We want you to distract the guy if things go south, Hoodie has a plan." Masky whispered. Jeff went silent, not responding, instead choosing to get a better look at his surroundings in case he needed a quick escape- not like he would do that, he wasn't a coward, but still, just in case.

        He rubbed his forefinger against his knife anxiously. The stage was huge and empty, barren without actors or audience. All three men walked cautiously down the aisle, Hoodie's gloved hands buried deep in his pockets, Masky taking out a flask and taking a swig from it, and Jeff's eyes darting from corner to corner.

        Hoodie stopped suddenly, raising his hand up swiftly to motion for the others to do the same. Jeff was about to ask why he stopped, before he caught sight of the stage.

        A soft, golden light came from behind the red curtains. Jeff narrowed his eyes as a man stepped out, his skin was ashen, practically gray. From his eyes emitted a golden light, and when he smiled at the three killers, Jeff was surprised to see his mouth and even teeth were an unnatural, golden hue.

        "The fuck...?" Jeff muttered under his breath, and Masky turned and put a finger to his mask's lips, signaling silence.

        "Let Hoodie take this one, ok? We're just the backup." He murmured to Jeff. Jeff felt like arguing, but instead he bit his tongue and nodded. They seemed to know what they were doing, and Jeff wasn't sure what to make of the gray man on stage.

        Hoodie walked up to the man, slowly, hands tucked into his pockets still. He gave a nod of hello.

        "Puppeteer," Hoodie said. Almost a greeting.

        "Proxy." The gray man said back, a small smile still on his lips. His smile was slightly twisted, looking somewhat like a sneer. "I don't believe I invited you, but I suppose proxies assume they're allowed anywhere, hm?"

        Hoodie was at the base of the steps to the stage now, he looked up, tilting his head slightly. "Funny you should say that," He said softly, "considering you've been crossing over into our territory."

        It had an instant reaction on the Puppeteer, his eyes narrowing and his mouth twisting even more, into a snarl. "So what are you going to do about it then?" He challenged.

        "Just stay out of the Slender's territory, and it won't matter," Hoodie stated. It was simple and direct, just like him. He turned towards Masky and Jeff, as if to say, "We're done here."

        Suddenly a yellow rope shot out, grabbing Hoodie from around his neck. Hoodie jumped backward, away from the stage, grabbing the string quickly and throwing it off him. Masky stood up immediately, rushing forward and taking out the iron pipe he had on him, heading straight for the Puppeteer. Jeff chuckled darkly, racing after Masky. The fun was just about to start.

        Masky jumped onto the stage, raising his arm to hit the Puppeteer. Puppeteer's eyes widened, and he ducked, strings shooting from his fingers to throw Masky back. Masky's reflexes kicked in, stepping back and bringing his arm down to block  the golden rope coming for him. It didn't work, instead, the Puppeteer's strings grabbed hold of the pipe, trying to take it from Masky's grasp. The masked man cursed under his breath, realizing his mistake, but before he could try to pull it back, the strings let go and fluttered to the floor. He looked up to see Jeff slicing through the ropes with his knife.

        The gray man let out a growl of frustration, stepping back and sending more thread towards Jeff. The killer managed to dodge them, his smile widening as his sliced the Puppeteer's arm- before he was thrown back. He had managed to forget that the Puppeteer couldn't be harmed by a simple knife. He fell to the ground, before the strings quickly wrapped themselves around Jeff, rendering his arms and legs immobile. Jeff let out a yell of anger, struggling to free himself as the ropes slowly crawled up his torso to wrap around his neck.

        The Puppeteer was clearly struggling for breath, fighting off all three of them at once was taking a toll on him. He backed away, readying to turn around and run off, before he noticed the line of salt. He looked around wildly, spotting Hoodie placing a vial back into his pocket, standing safely outside the circle of minerals now surrounding the gray man.

        "It's salt, Puppeteer, one of a ghost's only weakness." Hoodie said calmly.

        Masky chuckled. "Not so powerful now, huh?" He raised his pipe. "And this is iron, a second weakness."

        The Puppeteer let out a short, hurried laugh. "Well, you've really done your research, I'm sure Slender will be soo proud," He said brusquely. His words of defiance were overshadowed by the desperate look in his eyes. Jeff chuckled, looking at the man's terrified expression, trying to fight off a dizzying, sleepy feeling the strings gave off. 

        The golden rope around his began to reach towards his neck, and Jeff shifted the knife in his hand so he could cut the rope as it held his arm down. It took a bit of effort, trying to move the knife up and down when you couldn't move your hand much, at one point, Jeff nearly dropped the knife, and it sliced his palm. He let out a grunt of pain, biting his tongue and gripping the knife tighter, moving it's handle back into his hand.

        He glanced up while he tried to cut the rope, seeing Masky leaning over the Puppeteer, holding the pipe in a threatening manner. "So, have you reconsidered staying out of our way yet?" Masky said with a chuckle.

        The Puppeteer glared up at him. "I didn't do anything wrong." He said coolly. Masky shrugged. "Guess we gotta do this the hard way then."

        Masky drew back the pipe, bringing it down hard onto the Puppeteer's stomach. Jeff heard a noise come from the Puppeteer's mouth, the rush of air leaving his lungs, followed by him sucking in air and coughing as he doubled over.

        Masky waited until the grey man had cut his breath, before hitting him again in his stomach, and a third time in his side, causing the Puppeteer to fall over. Hoodie noticed Jeff, still tied up, and walked over to cut the rest of the rope off. Jeff rubbed his knife with his forefinger, before sighing and pocketing it, his hand still bleeding slightly. "No point in torturing him, is there?" He said bluntly.

        Hoodie tilted his head slightly. "What are you saying, Jeff?" He seemed suspicious.

        Jeff raised his arms, backtracking. "I don't mean shit, it's just this guys an ass, we're not gonna get him to do nothing, and besides he never said he'll come back. I'm sure we've taught him a lesson."

        Jeff wasn't sure why he was defending the Puppeteer. Maybe it was those fucking strings. He swiped the last few that were on him off. Nope, still didn't wanna see this sad weirdo get beat into a pulp. There was some silence, the Puppeteer looking confused and still a little worried. Hoodie, even though he was wearing a mask, seemed to be glaring daggers at Jeff. Masky shrugged and dropped the pipe.

        "Why not. I wasn't feeling it today anyway."

        "Masky!" Hoodie barked.

        "What?" Masky said defensively. "You know how these guys get. Boss never said to kill him, right? Just to get it over with. Besides, it's almost Christmas." He it a cigarette, which Hoodie grabbed and threw to the floor, stomping on it with his boot. They stared at each other for a moment, before Masky softly said, "It's almost Christmas, Hood. Let 'em have this." Hoodie looked away first, muttering something under his breath.

        Masky nodded towards Puppeteer. "Let's tie him up." He said.

        Together, Jeff and Masky tied the Puppeteer up with his own strings, and stepped over the salt circle carefully, so to not break it.

        The Puppeteer saw what they were doing, and his eyes widened. "Wait, wait, what are you doing? You- You can't just leave me here!"

        Masky lifted his mask and lit another cigarette. He smiled and said, "Or what? You'll die again?" He glanced at the Puppeteer. "Look at it this way, bud. Now you can't go into Slender's territory anymore." He blew some smoke, and walked off after Hoodie.

        Jeff turned to Puppeteer. The gray man looked him in the eyes and pleaded. "Don't let them leave me in here. Just cut my ropes, leave me a knife or something." Jeff stared at him. "No, thanks. I saved your life once today. Don't forget you owe me, if you do ever get yourself out of this." he gestured to the salt circle surrounding the Puppeteer, before following the two proxies, blood from his palm dripping onto the stage.


	5. Hating the Holidays is a Sibling Thing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jeff remembers what he's truly celebrating this time of year while staring at a sideways tree

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi I hope the italics work everyone

Cold snow soaked through Jeff's shoes, freezing his feet. He ignored the feeling, instead taking another long sip of his coffee. It was good. He continued to look at the fallen pine tree in front of him, a small one, that Toby had cut down and with the other proxies help, dragged it to the front lawn of the mansion and decorated it. 

It didn't look good, exactly. They didn't prop it back up to it's original, vertical position, instead leaving it on its side. They wrapped garland around the half that was topside, and tried putting a few ornaments on as well, though most of them were now broken or lying in the snow. Jeff took another sip of his coffee, staring at it. No, the tree didn't look good, but he had to admire the amount of effort they put into it. He still thought the act of celebrating the holidays strange, a foreign thing he hadn't done in quite a long time. He thought back to his old life,when he still looked forward to this type of thing.

_"Jeff! JEFF!"_

_Jeff 's eyes snapped open, and he jumped slightly, before his mind became foggy with sleep once more, and he grumbled, shoving his face back into his pillows._

_Two hands roughly pushed him, trying to shake him out of sleep. "Jeff! Come on!" Said the familiar voice again. Jeff groaned once more, slapping off the pestering hands._

_"Guhh.. Fine, fine, what?" He said, lifting his head up, his short black hair sticking up slightly. Liu gave him an amused look, before breaking out once more into a wide smile. " It's Christmas!"_

_That woke Jeff up. He sat up finally, throwing the covers off of him and leaning closer to Liu, his eyes wide. "Are mom and dad up yet?"_

_"No," Liu responded._

_"How many presents?"_

_"Didn't look yet. Waiting for your lazy butt to wake up." Liu teased. Jeff snorted, lightly shoving his brother._

_"Whatever. Let's go."_

_The two quietly crept downstairs. Their living room didn't look exceedingly decorative, there were stockings hanging, and a 'Happy Holidays!' sign hanging up, presents right underneath. But the living room distinctly lacked a tree. Jeff's excitement was dampened slightly as he thought back to when he had argued with his mother about getting one. She had complained that trees were too much work for a silly holiday, and the pine needles would be difficult to clean up. When Jeff suggested a fake tree, his mom said, "maybe next year, Jeff."_

_But still, the presents were there, and Jeff and Liu shared a look of glee before running down and scrambling for the gifts._

_They ripped them open, passing them to one another and sharing the joy between the two of them. Their hushed whispers died away completely, into loud talking and laughing. The noise woke their parents eventually._

_"Glad to see you too up so early!" their mother chimed, making the boys look up. "Go get dressed, then I need you to help your father take down the decorations."_

_Liu glanced at Jeff, then back at his mom. "Uh, ok, we still have some presents to open-"_

_"The presents can wait. I already told you we have a Christmas party to go to. It's very important, we don't want to mess anything up, right?" She looked pointedly at the both of them. Jeff scowled._

_"Why do we even have to go? You said it's for Dad's work." He grumbled, but stood up and started for the stairs anyway. His mom begun to explain once again the Very Important Reasons to Jeff, who decidedly ignored her and he went to his room, Liu following close behind._

_"I can't believe them!" Jeff said to Liu after they closed the door._

_"I know."_

_"It's literally Christmas day and she wants us to get rid of the decorations already?" He continued._

_"I know," Liu responded empathetically. "And the party..."_

_"And the party!" Jeff exclaimed, following Liu's thought. He was pacing now, pulling off his shirt and putting on a new one. "It's not even a family thing! The only holiday party we get to go to and it's just so Dad can look good in front of his boss!"_

_Liu grabbed a pair of jeans from his dresser, putting them on. "At least they decided to take us to one this year, last time they went somewhere without us, remember?"_

_Jeff continued pacing. "Yeah I remember," He said. "I remember them coming home drunk at like 3 a.m. Then they lied and told everyone that they sent us to a relative's house for Christmas."_

_Liu sighed and flopped onto his bed, staring at the ceiling. "It's like all they care about is looking like they're a perfect family without doing any of the work."_

_"I know!" Jeff agreed, and finally stopped pacing. Liu was quiet, and Jeff could tell he was upset. Jeff was madder about it, but he expected this sort of thing. Liu never quite seemed prepared for the disappointment. Jeff looked at Liu, before flopping down next to his brother, crossing his arms angrily. After a moment, he said quieter, " Christmas fuckin' blows."_

_"I know." Liu said softly._

_"I'm not gonna celebrate it anymore," Jeff continued, and Liu looked looked at him. " I don't need presents, and I don't need to deal with this fake 'family'  stuff anymore." He looked at Liu, meeting his eyes, even though the eye contact made him uncomfortable._

_Liu's eyebrows scrunched up in confusion. "I don't think they'll agree to that." He said slowly._

_"I don't care if they do. I'm making up a new holiday that they aren't allowed to ruin."_

_"What's that?"_

_"I call it 'Holiday Hate' day. All you have to do is pick a holiday you hate and celebrate this one instead." Jeff answered. Liu blinked._

_"That's so stupid," He responded, letting out a laugh, his face breaking out into a smile, making his nose crinkle up. "Count me in. It sounds a lot more fun."_

 

Jeff finished his coffee, a slight, grim smile on his face. He raised the empty cup into the air, towards the fallen pine tree. 

"Happy Hate day, Liu."


	6. What a Week, huh?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the week of Christmas, everyone is doing something to celebrate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sally is in this story much more than I anticipated.

 Monday he helped Ben and Sally with decorations.

        "Jeff! Can we come in?" Said a light voice from behind the door, knocking. Jeff groggily sat up, rubbing his face and looking at the clock next to his bed-before remembering it still didn't have batteries.

        "Ughm.." He replied, and the door opened anyway. Sally peered at him with wide, curious eyes, Ben floating behind her, looking suspicious and distrustful as ever. Sally didn't come in, seeing the mess, but still smiled at him. "Good morning!" she said cheerfully.

        "What do you..want?" Jeff asked carefully. Sally let out a small giggle. "You catch on quick, huh? Come help us decorate!" she said. Jeff looked at her, confused. "What, did no one else wanna help? I'm not the type to do this sorta shi- stuff." 

        Sally raised her eyebrow at him. "You can swear in front of me you know. It's not like I haven't heard you do it before." Jeff thought back to when he had first been brought back to the mansion and stubbed his toe, letting out a string of curses right in front of her. 

        "Oh, right. Ok, thank god." He said. "But still, why can't Toby or Masky or someone else do it?"

        "Because they said no," Sally said blankly.

        "Can I say no?" Jeff asked.

        "No."

        "Oh."

        After a few more minutes of trying to argue, Jeff begrudgingly got up and walked out to help them. He found the two ghosts downstairs, hanging up lights in the living room.

        "Why don't you hang those outside?" Jeff asked. Sally shrugged, untangling some of the wires. 

        "I just think it'll be easier to do inside."

        She handed off the wires to Ben, who floated to the ceiling and hung them up with tape. Sally glanced at Jeff. "Help me untangle these, I'm gonna go grab the rest of the decorations." He nodded and watched her run off. As he worked he asked Ben nonchalantly, "So...Sally, huh."

        "What about her?" Ben asked, his red eyes glancing at Jeff for a quick second.

        "She never really...acts like a ghost, does she?"

        Ben didn't respond, and Jeff continued carefully, trying to read Ben's emotions. He had always been so bad with people, he didn't know how people did it.

        "I mean, I've met a lot of ghosts before, poltergeists too, actually I met this one guy-"

        "No, Jeff, sally isn't manipulating, or backstabbing, or vengeful like us other ghosts. Is that what you want to hear?" Ben snapped at him, finally turning his full body to glare at Jeff. Jeff tried to backpedal, irritation immediately flaring up in his chest.

        "No, no! That's not what I-"

        "Shut up." Ben said again, his elf-like ears down turned. Jeff's anger increased (don't tell me what to do) and he opened his mouth to say something, but Ben started speaking again.

        "I know, I know that's not what you meant, dummy." He sighed. "She doesn't float, or walk through walls. She doesn't kill, or hurt, or harm anyone. She hates what I do, but she's always there for me, or Toby, or Masky when we wake up screaming." He looked deep into Jeff's eyes, who averted his own subconsciously. He hated making eye contact.

        "She had kind of a shit life, and like most ghosts, she wanted to make the most out her death. Unlike us losers, she choose to actually try and be nice, bring something into this world she never got." Ben jabbed a pointer finger in Jeff's direction. "So here's a fun fucking idea- be nice to her and don't say anything about her habits. She doesn't like being reminded of her death."

        Jeff opened and closed his fists, still pissed off. "Jeez, ya didn't have to go off on a fucking tangent. Just asking."

        Ben turned away from him, hanging up another string of lights, "Well it had to be said, you're the newbie after all."

        Jeff thought of saying something back (I'm not a fucking newbie) but he let it slide and untangled more lights, giving them to Ben when he was done. Sally came back, carrying a box in her hands, struggling slightly with the weight.

        "I-huff- got some more decorations!" She panted, dropping it t the floor unceremoniously. Ben gave her a half-smile, floating back to the floor. 

        "As a side note," he said, "We finished the lights." He zapped the wire, causing them to turn on. Sally's eyes widened and she smiled, letting out a happy giggle.

        "Oh wow! Oh my goodness thanks you two! Seriously this is great!" She did a small little twirl of happiness, before bending down and opening the box. "Now, onto the next thing!" And with the other's help, they continued their work.

        On Wednesday, he watched movies with the proxies.

        He walked into the living room, on the way to the kitchen, to see the three arguing. Jeff was surprised to see all of them had their masks off, including Hoodie, who was standing up, holding a couple CDs in his hands and looking rather tired. The other two, Masky and Toby, sat on the couch arguing to each other. 

        "The Nightmare before Christmas isn't a Christmas movie, it's a Halloween one!" Masky shouted.

        "It has Christmas in the title!" Toby yelled back. "The director even said it's for both holidays!"

        "How do you even know that?!" Masky yelled, waving his arms.

        "I DON'T KNOW!" Toby screamed, jumping off the couch.

        "Can we please just watch a Christmas story?" Hoodie said in a sad voice.

        "NO!" the other two said in unison.

        "Yo," Jeff said, lifting his hand in a lazy wave. All three turned to him in surprise. Hoodie, at least seemed glad to see Jeff.

        "Oh, Jeff! Mind weighing in?" He asked.

        "Nope!" Jeff responded, and headed to the kitchen, a chorus of disapproval followed his statement. He sighed and stopped, turning around. "Fine," he said, "What are your choices?"

        Hoodie seemed relieved, holding up the CDs for Jeff. "Well we narrowed it down to the Grinch, Home Alone, Nightmare before Christmas-"

        "Not a holiday film!" Masky interrupted.

        "-and a Christmas Story." Hoodie finished without skipping a beat. "What do you think?"

        "Can we watch die hard?" Jeff asked. Hoodie paused. "Die hard isn't...no." He said slowly. Jeff shook his head. "Yeah it is, the main dude is visiting his family on Christmas eve or whatever." He responded.

        "Well that's not one of our choices!" Hoodie protested, and looked towards Masky in support. Masky shrugged. "I'll count it. I like action movies, it's why I picked home alone."

        Hoodie looked at Toby now, "And what do you think?" he asked him.

        Toby grinned, "I love explosions. Why not, let's watch it." Hoodie blinked, realizing it was futile to disagree. He sighed. "Yeah ok. Let's watch it."

        On Friday, he received a package. 

        He woke up sometime around midday (The lack of people breaking into his room to announce things made him suspicious) and opened the door to go grab coffee, tripping over the box and nearly crashed to the floor. Jeff's first idea was that this was some sort of prank, and looked for a hidden camera or giggling proxy somewhere, when there was none, he glared at the colorfully wrapped package with suspicion. 

        He would have thrown it out if he hadn't caught the tag attached to it. Jeff lifted the piece of paper to read the scrawled,childish handwriting. "Happy Holidays, Jeff! I hope it keeps you entertained, I know you get bored stuck in this house all day. "  It struck him that today was December 25th, and this was a Christmas present. Or holiday present. Whatever. He went back into his room, and ripped off the paper carefully with his knife. 

        It was a puzzle book. Jeff felt a smile slowly spread onto his face. Not his fake, carved in one, a genuine, soft smile (Though his smiles never actually looked anything but insane). He put it onto his side desk, next to his knife, and went downstairs watching out for any other things that he may trip over. 

        He entered the kitchen, and surprisingly everyone was there- except for LJ, who still hadn't returned. Hoodie and Masky were drinking coffee, and Hoodie seemed to be in a good mood, considering his displeasure with the mornings (And early afternoons). Toby was sitting at the table, talking to Sally, Ben, and EJ. 

        Jeff grabbed himself a cup of coffee and a granola bar, before sitting at the table. It seemed they were arguing over something.

        "Oh come on, it'll be fun," Toby whined. Eyeless shook his head, a short, quick motion. "No. The fireworks are old, and it's dangerous anyway. I don't feel like cleaning up body parts if something goes wrong"

        Ben seemed to agree with him. "They might not even work, either. When it rains the basement leaks water, might have gotten on them."

        "Fireworks?" Jeff asked, unwrapping the granola bar and taking a bite. Toby flung himself forward, grasping for Jeff's hands dramatically. "Yes! For New Year's! Tell them it'll be fun, Jeff!" Toby begged. Jeff avoided Toby's hands, pushing them away. 

        "I mean, yeah, but why don't we go out and buy new ones?" He asked the group. From across the room, Hoodie answered.

        "No funds. We spend money on food, fireworks are expensive," He paused to sip his coffee. "But trust me, I'd love to blow something up."

        Jeff considered this. " Has anyone checked the fireworks we already have? I mean, they might not be that bad, but if they are duds I wanna know before we waste time on them."

        "Good idea! We'll go check," Toby said, springing out of his chair. Ben and Eyeless followed him to the basement. After a couple minutes, they came back up. Ben clapped his hands together.

        "Good news gents," He said, a devilish smile spreading across his face, " New Year's is gonna be a blast."


End file.
